How To Get a DBA in Rhode Island in Three Steps

Business owners need unique trade names to identify their brands and avoid confusion for potential customers. Rhode Island denies business name filings for any proposed names “identical or not distinguishable” from any name in its active database.” Therefore:

• Check Rhode Island’s Name Availability Guidelines and search through the existing business names in the state’s Corporate Database.

• Repeat your search using the county clerk’s website for the county where your business will primarily operate.

• Search social media to find out if any other entrepreneurs or firms already use the name you want. Also search existing website domains through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

While a DBA is not the same as a trademark, many new business owners also search the federal database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to find out if a specific name is already in use in their markets. You may not infringe on another business owner’s trademarked name. Ultimately, you might also decide to trademark your own brand name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Keep your Rhode Island DBA free of legally problematic terms:

• Avoid words implying a licensing or business structure (Incorporated or Inc., Limited Liability Company or LLC, Professional Corporation or PC, Business Trust, Chartered, Professional Association, Professional Organization, and so forth) if they aren’t legally accurate for your business.

• Avoid terms suggesting your business is a federally recognized tribe or nation, or a government-related department.

• Do not include the name of a real person in your DBA (unless the trade name also contains words that remove public confusion).

For other rules about the fictitious name of the business, refer to the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s Business Services Division. Carry out your preliminary research online. The Secretary of State’s office also encourages you to check for more information by contacting its office directly. 

Visit the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s Document Library to look up your type of business.

• For foreign entities, corporations, limited liability partnerships, limited partnerships (LPs), or any incorporated business type, an authorized officer must file the Rhode Island DBA name (officially called a fictitious business name) with the Rhode Island Department of State. Incorporated business owner(s) should check with their local government to know if the owner must additionally file there. 

• If your business is a limited liability company (a Rhode Island LLC), refer to the Rhode Island Limited Liability Company Act. You must file a DBA with the Secretary of State’s Division of Business Services to use your brand name in place of the legal business name. The filing fee for your Rhode Island DBA is $50.

• If you have an informal business such as a sole proprietorship or a general partnership, register with your local government (county clerk or city clerk). Using a DBA, a solo entrepreneur or a partnership can brand their business with an assumed name rather than exposing their personal identities to the public.

On the registration form for your assumed name:

• Complete the form with all required fields: your legal name as the authorized officer of a business; your business name, location, and date of incorporation; your proposed DBA name; a brief statement of the business being done; the legal name and the address of the person(s) operating your business. R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-1.2-402 (b).

• Submit the form to the clerk’s office for each Rhode Island county where your nonregistered business entity operates. Submit Rhode Island’s form and filing fee, as instructed on a particular county website.

Review additional signing, notarization, and filing details in the Rhode Island statute. Note that your DBA filing will be on the public record.